The 3,000-year-old wheel measures around a metre in diameter and was found in the remains of a river.

Archaeologists work to extract the earliest complete Bronze Age wheel found in Britain, dated 1100-800 BC

David Gibson, Archaeological Manager at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, said: “The discovery of the wheel demonstrates that the inhabitants of this watery landscape had links to the dry land beyond the river.”

“Believed to be the most complete example yet found from this period, this wheel poses a challenge to our understanding of both Late Bronze Age technological skill and, together with the eight boats recovered from the same river in 2011, transportation.”

The circular wooden houses, built on stilts, form part of a settlement at Must Farm quarry, in Cambridgeshire and reveal lost secrets of life in the region 3,000 years ago.

A fire is believed to have destroyed the posts holding the houses up, causing them to fall into a slow-moving river.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Artifacts recovered from a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

A middle to late Bronze Age tanged dagger recovered from a settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

A pot recovered from a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Pots recovered from a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologist Selina Davenport works on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologist Selina Davenport works on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologist Selina Davenport works on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologist Selina Davenport works on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologists work on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as they are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologists work on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as they are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Archaeologists work on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as they are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.

Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Embargoed to 0001 Tuesday January 12 Archaeologist Selina Davenport works on the site of a Bronze Age settlement destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, at Must Farm quarry in Cambridgeshire, as archaeologists are set to step inside a Bronze Age home for the first time in an extraordinary dig revealing amazing details of how people lived thousands of years ago.